A Childhood Dream Comes True

Rating: 8/10 (20 July 2013)

There lies our inner child who will squeal when giant mecha heroically arrives to fend off gargantuan tower size monster in an epic battle that will surely destroy anything around them, but we really don't care about collateral damage. Pacific Rim is a homage to that forgotten child and ultimately the mecha genre. I didn't expect Japanese inspired Godzilla-esque scenes, where it was made from cardboard miniature and people in suit back in the old days, will be realized into hyper stylish modern day action movie. Granted, it's still marred by a few typical disaster movie clichés, but it will make your eyes open wide and mouth agape just seeing the colorful metal knight versus relentless organic behemoth as your childhood is relived once again.
There hasn't been anything quiet like it visually. Color palette is glossy and bright, the motion of the gigantic being, either it's steel or flesh, is appropriately smooth. The scale of the encounters is immense, often showcasing stormy sea and dystopian night life to emphasis the clash. Use of 3D effect highlights it even more, its camera angle shows the threat of Kaiju, the monsters, in a daunting perspective. These walking antagonists deliver thrill light years ahead compared to usual monster type on their television counterparts. It makes the appearance of Jaegar, the robots, even more exciting and the battle that much better. There's just no shortage of colossal mayhem in Pacific Rim.
Story takes a bleak contemporary setting where Kaiju attack gradually increases, however this is unlike gritty nuance of apocalypse, it still has some fun and humor. Humanity's answer for the Kaiju infestation is Jaegars. tall stoic robotic entities which take two persons to pilot by synchronizing their thoughts. With incredibly fast paced screenplay, the movie pulls audience to invest in the story. Charlie Hunnam from Sons of Anarchy fame takes the role of the troubled protagonist Raleigh Becket. He's clean cut with emotional baggage of losing his brother. In a way it makes him a compatible with Mako Mori, played by Rinko Kikuchi, the teen girl from Babel.
The dynamic between them is the majority of the story, which arguable takes a bit longer than expected. They do relatively fine, although there's not much chemistry to be had. Charlie Day and Ron Perlman are present, mostly for comedy relief. It appears that the movie would like to introduce larger-than-life characters, much like those in anime. Some scenes don't really work since it's trapped in predictable cycle, such as some ridiculous death scenes or the speech before final battle.
Credit must go to Guillermo Del Toro for creating a movie he's truly passionate about. Mecha genre is far from mainstream, especially in blockbuster, but it now has a decent representation in the form of Pacific Rim. Some silliness or occasional slow scenes aside, it's a fresh entertaining rendition of boys mecha fantasy and an especially irresistibly captivating action movie as a whole.
Rate 8/10